Punjab Centre row over Republic Day tableau escalates

Days after slamming the central government over rejecting Punjab’s tableau for the Republic Day parade, chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday turned down the defence ministry’s offer to display it at the Bharat Parv event to be held at the Red Fort in New Delhi. Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann slams the central government over rejecting Punjab’s tableau for the Republic Day parade.

(ANI) Mann, who on December 27 accused the Centre of discriminating against Punjab and Delhi in the selection of tableaux, said his government will not send its tableau in the rejected categories list of the central government as martyrs of the country do not need a no objection certificate from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Wrap up the year gone by & gear up for 2024 with HT! Click here The defence ministry in a letter to Punjab chief secretary Anurag Vermaon Saturday, asked the state government to display its tableau in Bharat Parv to be held from January 23 to 31. India’s martyrs including Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev, Lala Lajpat Rai, Udham Singh, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Mai Bhago, Ghadari Baabe and others cannot be kept in rejected category, said Mann, who leads an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab.

The Union government is trying to belittle their sacrifice by not including the tableau in the parade, he alleged in a statement. The defence ministry rejected his allegations of discrimination. “After the third round of meeting, the tableau of Punjab could not be taken forward by the expert committee for further consideration for not aligning to the broader themes of this year’s tableau,” the ministry said in a statement on Sunday morning.

There is a well established system to select tableaux for participation in the Republic Day parade and proposals are evaluated in a series of meetings of an expert panel, it said. As many as 30 states and union territories, including Punjab and West Bengal, had shown their willingness to participate.

Out of these, only 15 16 states and union territories were selected to present their tableaux, it said. The tableau proposed by West Bengal, which is ruled by the Trinamool Congress party, has also been rejected. The tableau of Punjab was shortlisted for the parade between 2017 and 2022. “As states have to be treated equally, it is essential that states should be given the opportunity to display their tableaux as per a formula,” the ministry said.

After the ministry’s clarification, BJP state unit chief Sunil Jakar’s lie has been exposed, AAP’s Punjab spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang said. Jakhar had accused Mann of politicising the rejection of the state’s tableau and alleged that the AAP government insisted that the tableau carried Mann’s and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal’s photos and it was one of the reasons why it was excluded from the parade.

Mann had denied Jakhar’s claim. “Jakhar should now either show the concept of the tableau of Punjab government he claimed has the pictures of Mann and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal, or he should apologize to the people of Punjab for his lies,” he said in a statement. Unlock a world of Benefits with HT! From insightful newsletters to real time news alerts and a personalized news feed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! Get Latest India News along with Latest News and Top Headlines from India and around the world SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Share this article Share Via Copy Link Punjab Bhagwant Mann Defence Ministry.